Pork Chop Supreme

Pork Chop Supreme

Ingredients:

4 boneless pork chops

4 thinly sliced potatoes

1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix

1 can cream of mushroom

1/2 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Brown pork chops in ¼ cup oil, then drain.  Slice potatoes into a medium casserole dish in an even layer.  Place pork chops over potatoes.  Combine onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, and milk.  Pour over top of pork chops.  Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Slow Cooker Spicy Beef and Bell Peppers

Slow Cooker Spicy Beef and Bell Pepper

Ingredients:

2 lbs beef chuck roast

2 tsp garlic

1/2 medium onion

1/3 cup parsley

4 tsp sriracha

1 tsp black pepper

2 tbsp corn starch

2 tsp salt

1 cup broth

½ cup water

2 cups chopped red and yellow bell pepper

Directions:

Place the meat on the bottom of a slow cooker.  Top with sliced onion and chopped bell pepper.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic.

Mix the broth with sriracha.  Pour over the peppers and beef.  Set on high for 3.5-4 hours.

When finished cooking, mix ½ cup of water and two tablespoons corn starch.  Add one cup of liquid from the meat and pepper mixture, and cook on medium heat until boiling.  Then, cook two minutes past boil to remove the cornstarch flavor.  Add this mixture back to the meat and bell peppers.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley, stir, and serve over rice.  **Optional: Drizzle sriracha on top!

Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted Cauliflower (totally eyeballed; no recipe)

Cauliflower (I used a pre-washed and sealed bag from the produce section)

Olive oil

Garlic

Salt/Pepper

Oregano

Parmesan Cheese

In a large bowl, place cauliflower and olive oil.  Toss to coat.  Pour cauliflower on a cooking tray lined with parchment paper.  Sprinkle garlic, salt, pepper, and oregano, then stir to coat evenly.  Bake at 375 until cauliflower starts to sizzle and brown.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle grated Parmesan.  Return to the oven and bake for an 5-10 additional minutes.

Chili Cornbread Casserole Recipe

Trisha Yearwood's Chili Cornbread Casserole (Amy approved)

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 ½ pounds lean ground beef

1 ½ cups salsa

1 twelve ounce bag frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed

¼ cup vegetable broth

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

salt and pepper

3 eight ounce boxes Jiffy cornbread mix

1 ½ cups whole milk

1 cup shredded chedder cheese

¼ cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering.  Add the onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add ground beef to the onion and sauté until browned and cooked through, 8-10 minutes.  Drain any excess fat.  Stir in the salsa, corn, vegetable broth, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.  Transfer the mixture to a 9x13-inch baking dish, smoothing into an even layer.

In a large bowl, mix together the corn muffin mix with about 1 ½ cups milk, or just enough to make it easy to spread.  Spread it thinly over the chili mixture.  Bake until browned on top, 30-35 minutes.  Remove from the oven and set aside for 10 minutes to allow casserole to set.  Top with cheese and sour cream before serving.

Mom's Hush Puppy Recipe

If I haven't made it known by now, let me take a second and tell you what a phenomenal cook my mom is!  Everything she makes is delicious.  The only problem is that she rarely uses a recipe.  She throws in a little of this and a little of that- and it works.  It always works!  She hasn't made hush puppies in a really long time, but they're a signature dish in her kitchen.  She made them a lot when I was growing up, and I always remember how much I enjoyed them.  I don't know what makes them different than any others, but they're my favorite.  The other day, I asked her to make them so I could watch and learn. We measured the ingredients, and I watched every move she made so I could attempt them later myself.  It was SO much fun.  I can't think of a better teacher.  We both loved being in the kitchen together and agreed we needed to do it again soon.  Next on the list is her meatloaf, blueberry syrup, vinaigrette dressing, hamburger steak, and orange muffins.  I'm telling you, she needs to open a cafe.  (That's my dream- to work and cook in a cute little cafe on the corner...learned something new about me.)

Here's the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups corn meal
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
dash of salt
3/4 onion, diced
1 1/4 cup milk (You do have to eyeball the amount of milk to a certain extent.  You don't want the mixture to be too runny.  Per mom: Once you stir all ingredients together, you want the mixture to stay on the spoon without dripping.  That's how you know you have the right consistency.)

Drop mixture by spoonfuls into oil and fry until golden brown.

In Other News...and a Great Recipe (Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad)

Man, that giveaway in my last post went over like a ton of bricks, huh?  Holly, I owe you.  Thanks for your comment.  I planned to send you the valentine happy anyway, but to be honest, I have no idea what I've done with what I bought.  So, shout out to you for winning....nothing.  ;)  Ha!  Seriously, appreciated you commenting.

What do y'all think about that ole Juan Pablo?  Ay yi yi!  He's a jerk face, huh?  Is Nikki out of her mind for staying with him?  Reality Steve said he was only in it for the fame and fortune, and I happen to agree.  ABC lost a perfectly good season with him.  I'm working on being excited about Andi, but I'm not there yet.  But let's face it, Kermit the Frog could be the Bachelor and I'd watch.

I'm so excited about the warmer weather!  Although, the only thing on my mind is....snake season.  I avoided any sightings last year, so pray this year will be the same.

I tried a new recipe this week that I love.  It's simple and the best part is, there's only about 250 calories per serving, which is 2.5 cups.  It's called Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad.

Ingredients:

Dressing:
     1/3 cup chopped, fresh cilantro
     2/3 cup light sour cream
     1 tbsp. minced chipotle chile, in adobo sauce (in section with mexican foods)
     1 tsp. ground cumin
     1 tsp. chili powder
     4 tsp. lime juice
     1/4 tsp. salt

Salad:
     4 cups shredded lettuce
     2 cups boneless, skinless chicken breasts
     1 cup cherry tomatoes (halved)
     1/2 cup diced, peeled avocado
     1/3 thinly sliced red onion
     1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (You KNOW I left these out.)
     1 can whole kernel corn, drained


To prepare dressing, mix all ingredients well.  Pour over salad and enjoy.

The Best Mexican Cornbread Ever!

Warning: NOT low-calorie.  But delicious.

Ingredients:
3 cups self rising cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup milk
1 can cream corn
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 eggs
1 bell pepper
1 onion

Saute' bell pepper and onion until soft.  Mix with all other ingredients and bake at 400 for 40-45 minutes.

Seven Can Soup

Forgive all the recipe posts, but I have a tendency to lose where I've written these down.  I'm hoping to record them on my blog and then print them and make a cookbook!

This recipe is EASY and SOOOO delicious!  However, I'm not sure why it's called "Seven Can Soup" when there are clearly eight cans involved.  Oh well...

Seven Can Soup
2 cans Chili (one with beans, one without….You know I use both without!)
2 cans Campbell's Chunky Vegetable Soup
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can Rotel
1 can tomato soup
1 can diced tomatoes

Mix and heat until warmed through.  Serve with my Mexican Cornbread recipe coming soon!

Ham and Cheese Quiche

Easy and Quick Ham and Cheese Quiche

Ingredients:
2 refrigerated pastry shells
4 eggs
2 cups chopped ham
2 cups shredded cheese
2 cups half and half
2 tsp dried minced onion
salt
pepper
***I put some pineapple tidbits in also, and it tastes great!

Place pie shell in pie plate.  Mix other ingredients and pour into pie shell.  Bake at 400 for around 30-35 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Corn Dip (Best Ever!)

This weekend my sister, a friend, and I decided to go all out and make some "football finger foods" since two very big games happened to be on television.  My favorite of everything we made was this corn dip.  I could eat it every day for the rest of my life and not get tired of it.  It's that good!

Corn Dip

2 cans Mexicorn
1 can yellow and white corn
1 cup mayo
1 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
green onions, finely chopped

Mix all of the above together and serve with tortilla chips or fritos.

No-Bake Energy Bites

I'm trying to do this clean eating crap stuff again, so I've been desperately searching for recipes that are all organic and super healthy.  I remembered tasting these a while back when a friend made them, and decided to try them myself.  Surprisingly, they are healthy AND delicious.  I wanted to document for myself, so I hope you enjoy them too.

Ingredients:

1 cup organic, rolled oats
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
1 cup coconut flakes (I didn't have any and I'm not a huge fan of coconut, so I added more oats.)
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 mini chocolate chips (I may or may not have added a "few" more than that.)
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together.  Refrigerate for half an hour.  Mold into balls and serve.

 

***Several people have asked me what flaxseed is.  It looks almost like poppy seeds when it's ground.  Studies show it reduces the risk of breast cancer, stroke, heart disase, and diabetes.  Some have called it the most powerful plant food on the planet.  :)

Kristi's Homemade Chicken Tenders

This recipe is from my dear friend Kristi, and it is divine!  I don't know specific amounts, so just "eyeball" it.

Ingredients:
buttermilk
2 eggs
flour
basil
garlic salt
pepper
paprika

Mix all dry ingredients besides flour.  Dip chicken in buttermilk, then egg, last flour.  Dip to coat in herb mix.  Fry.

Zaxby's Sauce

This recipe is for Zaxby's sauce...and it tastes just like it!  I made some homemade chicken tenders a few weeks ago, mixed this sauce up to go with it, and BAM...perfection.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon worchestire sauce

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Stir together and refrigerate. ***The key is the black pepper.  If the taste is off, add more pepper.  

Fresh Salsa

I'm going to be adding more recipes in the next few posts, anticipating making my cookbook from my favorites I've posted throughout the years.  This one is an all-time favorite....SALSA!

Ingredients:

one large can chopped tomatoes

two cans Rotel

half onion, chopped

three cloves garlic

dash of lime juice

bunch of cilantro (literally- the whole bunch)

salt

Blend together, refrigerate, and serve!

No-Bake Key Lime Cream Cakes

Another recipe I've made lately is for these scrumptuous key lime cream cakes.  They are so very easy, really quick, and they look pretty, too! 

Ingredients

Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs ( Buy the box of crumbs, so you don't have to crush them yourself!)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
***I had to use more than what this recipe called for to fill 12 cupcake liners.  Just add more little by little until you have enough.

Filling:
8 ounce cream cheese, softened
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup bottled key lime juice (I used Nellie and Joe's)
1 container Cool Whip
lime slices

Directions
Line 12 cupcake cups with foil liners. Stir graham cracker crumbs, pecans and melted butter together in a bowl to combine. Spoon 1 Tbsp. of the mixture into each liner, pressing it down to make the crust.

With an electric mixer on low speed, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until creamy, about 30 seconds. Add the condensed milk and key lime juice, and blend on medium speed until just combined, 20 to 30 seconds. Add 1 cup of the whipped topping and blend on low speed for 15 seconds longer.

Spoon mixture evenly into liners. Cover pan with plastic and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours. Remove from freezer 15 minutes before serving; peel off liners and dollop 1 Tbsp. remaining whipped topping on each cake. Garnish with lime slices, if you like.